Globalisation Fund to help 4,000 workers in
mobile phone sector

The European Commission today announced that it has
approved two further applications for assistance under the European
Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) – from Germany and Finland. These will
now be put before the European Parliament and the Council for decision. They are
the third and fourth applications for EGF support and concern redundancies in
two companies in the mobile phone sector: BenQ in Germany and Perlos in
Finland.

Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Commissioner Vladimír
Špidla said, "I am happy to put these applications forward because they
will help over 4,000 redundant workers back into employment. The EGF is being
used as it was designed to - to respond to the impact of structural change on
dynamic global markets."

Both applications are made against a general trend towards delocalising
production for mobile phones and accessories, mostly to Asia. This is not only
because it is cheaper to make mobile phones there, but also because of the
proximity of technology partners and a fast-growing consumer market.

The BenQ application concerns two German plants of the Taiwanese mobile phone
manufacturer BenQ. In December 2006, BenQ withdrew financial support from the
two subsidiary companies, resulting in about 3,300 workers being made redundant
in three production sites in Munich, Kamp-Lintfort and Bocholt. The contribution
requested from the EGF in the BenQ application is EUR 12.8 million.

The Perlos application relates to redundancies in two Finnish production
plants of Perlos, a manufacturer of mobile phone accessories. In this case, some
1,000 redundancies were caused by the decision to discontinue production
activities in Finland and to close down two Perlos factories located in Joensuu
and Kontiolahti, in the Northern Karelia region, by September 2007. The
contribution requested from the EGF in the Perlos application is EUR 2
million.

Background

The EGF may give a financial contribution in cases where more than 1,000
workers in an enterprise or a regional sector are made redundant due to major
structural changes in world trade patterns leading to substantially increased
imports into the EU or a rapid decline in EU market shares.

The EGF was established by the European Parliament and the Council at the end
of 2006 to provide help for people who have lost their jobs due to the impact of
globalisation. Commission President José Manuel Barroso proposed the idea
in 2005 to create an instrument of solidarity to help workers affected by
redundancies resulting from changes in world trade patterns find their way back
into work.

The first two EGF applications concern the French car sector and relate to
suppliers of Peugeot-Citroën and Renault, respectively. The Commission is
also currently examining applications for EGF assistance from the Italian and
Maltese governments. In total, there are now eight formal applications for
assistance from the EGF.Background: MEMO/06/486EGF
website: http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/egf